Sainz on pole for British GP after wet qualifying session

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz snatched pole position for the British Grand Prix from Max Verstappen with the last lap of a thrilling wet qualifying session.

Verstappen looked favourite for pole in treacherous conditions at Silverstone after topping the first two sessions.

But Sainz snuck ahead by just 0.072 seconds at the end of the top-10 shootout, with his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in third.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton took fifth, behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.

Sainz, who had been slower than Leclerc for much of the session, giggled in disbelief over the team radio as he was told he had taken pole. “I didn’t expect that one,” he laughed, saying how difficult conditions had been.

It was another strong performance from the Spaniard after he pushed Verstappen all the way for victory in Canada last time out, losing out by less than a second.

Sainz was cheered by the huge Silverstone crowd as he began his qualifying interviews and said: “I was struggling with the standing water and it was easy to lose the car and lose the lap.

“That didn’t feel too good but in the end it was pole position and a bit of a surprise.”

The difficulty of the conditions was underlined by Verstappen making a couple of mistakes early in the final session, spinning out of Stowe on his first flying lap, and then misjudging his braking and running too deep into Vale on his next. (BBC Sport)